Rise from the Ashes: Newleaf
by Quill Fang
Summary: The four Clans have fallen, leaving only a small group of survivors who continue the legacy of the Clans through four new ones: LionClan, LightClan, TigerClan, and FallClan. But as they rise from the ashes, trouble arises in all places, and soon the new Clans must ask the question: Were they meant to rise?
1. Chapter 1

_Rewritten on March 30, 2014. __I tweaked Lionstripe's personality and size to match WindClan better.  
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A cold, bitter wind, blew through the hillside, chilling the small golden tom who was sitting over the lakeside, even through his thick leaf-bare pelt. Beside him, a smaller, pale ginger she-cat sat, her head pressed into his shoulder. Across from him, a dark brown tabby tom sat, and next to him was a red she-cat.

"Lionstripe," the dark tabby growled, sheathing and unsheathing his claws. "The Clans are _dead_. Gone forever. You can't just…"

The golden tom, Lionstripe, bared his teeth at the tom. He was smaller than the other tom, but his tongue was just as sharp.

"Tigerfang, there is always a spark of hope. We can restart the Clans! Learn from their mistakes!"

"Yeah," Tigerfang snapped in reply. "We're going to start new Clans. With who? How?"

"And," the red she-cat added, her eyes narrowed. "The lake territory is almost uninhabitable! We can't live here!"

The pale she-cat snarled at the two. "Who said we have to stay here! We can always leave here!"

Lionstripe smirked triumphantly as he stared across the nearly dried up lake. "Remember, Tigerfang? The stories of Bramblestar and Crowfeather and Feathertail? The Great Journey here? We can make a journey away from here!"

All four cats were silent for a moment as Lionstripe's words sunk in. The red she-cat stood after a few heartbeats, her tail lashing.

"Say we do leave. What happens if what happened _here_ happens _there_? Killer frost, flooding, fires, Twoleg attacks, starvation, war? All of our effort would be in vain!"

Lionstripe muttered something, then met the she-cat in the eyes.

"Russettail, the father of my father's father's father was a cat named Lionblaze. And you know who he was kin to? Crowfeather!" Tigerfang and Russettail were silent for a moment. "It is my duty to continue the legacy of the Clans, no matter what it takes. Lightfur and I are willing to begin our own Clans; are you two?

"Willing to make our _own Clans_?" Tigerfang exclaimed, ripping up the ground with his claws. "We can't do that!"

"Yes we can," Lightfur snapped. "We plan on it. Gather rogues, loners, kittypets, surviving Clan cats and find a suitable territory."

"It's not just that, Lightfur," Russettail retorted.

"What else?" Lionstripe interrupted, the fur on the back of neck bristling. "For a Clan, you need cats, a code, and a leader. We have the Warrior Code, we will get cats, and each of us shall lead."

Tigerfang sighed, and Russettail stared at her paws.

"Well?" Lightfur asked, tilting her head. "What is your choice?"

"We shall," Russettail grumbled. "But I insist on calling my Clan FallClan. We must remember the fall of the Clans, and that we will fall in the future."

"The near future, to be certain," Tigerfang grumbled, then faced Lionstripe. "I will rule TigerClan."

"And I, LightClan," Lightfur meowed, standing. The pale she-cat had been the deputy of ShadowClan before, and was more than willing to continue the legacy of the Clans. Lionstripe was glad for that; he had been the most senior warrior of WindClan, and was nearly going to become deputy before the Fall began.

"Then I will lead LionClan," Lionstripe meowed, shuffling his paws. "Thank you all."

Tigerfang just snorted, but Russettail was looking enthusiastic. That was good.

_This is the right thing to do, _he thought determinedly. _We _will_ continue the Clans. _

"Very well then," he meowed. "We shall meet here in..."

"One moon," Tigerfang decided before Lionstripe. "With all the cats you have gathered."

"Not here," Russettail meowed. "The island."

"Fine," Lightfur meowed. "With every cat, and tell us where you have found a territory."

"Okay," Lionstripe meowed, standing. He was a small cat, but he could intimidate someone with his words. "At the island we'll start our new Clans."


	2. Chapter 2

The mouse was sitting in the undergrowth, nibbling contentedly on a seed, unaware of the lithe black cat stalking it.

_Come on, you stupid animal, _Raven thought, her whiskers quivering with anticipation. _Stay there..._

She continued to stalk the mouse, waggling her haunches. She stopped, crouching a bit more, ready to pounce...

_Snap! _

Suddenly, a twig split under her paw pads, and she hissed in frustration as the gray animal's head shot up. Raven was just about to make a desperate pounce, but before she could do so, a small golden tom shot out of the bushes and nipped it's neck before it could let out a sound.

"Hey!" Raven snarled, stepping out of the undergrowth. The fur on the back of her neck was bristling, and she dug her claws into the ground. "That was the first decent meal I've had in the last quarter moon!"

"Sorry," the cat meowed, scowling. "You can have this if you like, but you have to listen to what I have to say."

Raven rolled her blue eyes. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Well, have you ever heard of the four Clans?" the tom asked. He tilted his head, and Raven realized that he was waiting for an answer.

"Er... no?" the black she-cat meowed uncertainly. "What does that have to do with anything?" Raven actually had heard of the Clans living by the lake, tales of terrifyingly huge wildcats that fought each other over the smallest scraps of prey, and ate bones. She didn't tell this puny tomcat, though of those stories.

"Well, in short, there were four Clans, WindClan, ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan living by the lake. Then they fell, and only four warriors from these Clans survived, and vowed to start their own Clans."

"Okay," Raven meowed, frowning. "What does this have to do with me?"

The golden cat rolled his eyes. "I'm one of those four cats, mouse-brain!" he snapped, as if this fact was obvious.

_Short tempered little cat, _Raven thought, irritated.

"And I'm asking you to join my new Clan!" The cat finished. "I'm Lionstripe, and along with Lightfur, Tigerfang, and Russettail, we're starting our own Clans!"

Raven blinked, surprised. _Me? You want me to join you?_

"What would I get out of this?" the she-cat asked, narrowing her blue eyes.

"Prey like this mouse – well, actually, we'd get hares and rabbits – every day, protection, you know, strength in numbers?"

The black cat cocked her head to the side. "And what role would I play in your Clan?"

"You'd either be a warrior, or maybe the deputy," Lionstripe mewed, flicking his tail from side to side. "You'd be the first cat to join, if you do," he added, after a short pause.

Raven twitched her whiskers, then spoke. "How long do I have to think on this?" she asked. "And if I say yes, where shall I meet you to tell you my choice?"

"Meet me at the lake," Lionstripe said. "It's just over the edge of the hills, and nearly dried up. You've got until the full moon. That's when I have to bring all my cats to the island and start my Clan."

"Alright," Raven sighed. "I'll think about it." She stood and turned. "Keep the mouse." Then, she darted into the undergrowth of the forest.

Raven ran through the wood, ducking under brambles and bracken until she reached the end of the trees and burst out into the big, open hillside that she called her home. The sun was shining brightly over the lush grass, and birds were flying high in the sky. That was the one thing Raven disliked about her hills; the birds always flew so high, she couldn't catch them.

Raven slowed to a trot as she approached a sandy dip in the ground, big enough for her and a small pile of fresh-kill. All that was on the heap right now was a small shrew that she had caught earlier that morning. She didn't like shrew all that much, but she would eat it if she had to. She wasn't very hungry, especially now that she had to think about Lionstripe's offer.

"Should I join?" Raven wondered aloud, dragging the shrew towards her with her claw. "Good prey every day? Living as a group?"

The she-cat had always wanted a good meal nearly every day, and to live without fear of being attacked by hostile cats who wanted to steal her prey. But living as a group might be harder to adapt to. Ever since she was a small kitten, she had been alone, fending for herself. Now she might have the chance to live with others.

"I suppose I'm joining Lionstripe, then," she muttered to herself, taking a bite out of the shrew. "I'll tell him tomorrow, if he's there."

Dawn light was shining faintly down on Raven's sleeping hole when she woke up. It was much earlier than she usually did, but she wanted to look her best when she told the puny tom that she was joining him.

Raven was grooming herself on the top of the smallest hill, running her paws over her ears and chest fur. She didn't know exactly why she wanted to be formal, but this seemed like an important day, and she wanted to be her best. She finished quickly and stood up, racing down the hill to her sandy hole. Nothing was inside of it but her nest, and she figured she wouldn't be using it anymore, so the black she-cat began to tear it apart, scattering the moss and bracken and wool all over the ground. She finished her task, then bolted out of the hole.

_Why am I so excited for this? _She wondered as she finally stopped running around. _I'm not even feeling hungry this morning! _Usually she'd feel starved as she woke, and left her hills to find food in the forest. But today, she was itching to go meet Lionstripe at the lake.

_The lake! _Raven had never seen the lake before, but heard it was a big pool of water, with lots of fish. She found herself wanting to try one of the water-dwelling animals, but shook the thought away.

_I'll be hunting hares and rabbits soon enough. No fishing. _

The sun finally rose, and Raven hopped to her paws. She almost sprinted down the slope, but kept herself controlled. She would need to meet Lionstripe with the air of a cat who was ready and calm, not as bouncy as a kitten.

By the time she was at the edge of the forest, it was halfway to sunhigh. Raven turned for a moment, staring at her hilly home for a moment longer. Then she closed her eyes and took a breath and plunged into the forest.

For some reason, the woods seemed different now. The trees were more of a dark-and-light blur, and Raven realized this was because she was running swiftly through the forest. _I haven't felt so alive! _She was excited to find Lionstripe. _The first cat to join his Clan! _She would always be one of the most respected cats in the Clan, and – if they continued for a long time – would be remembered as Raven, the great warrior of the new Clan, not some nameless rogue who died alone. She shook the thoughts away. If she wanted to be a great warrior, she needed to find Lionstripe and the lake first.

When Raven neared the edge of the forest, the sun was high in the sky. She was out of breath from running so long, and stopped for a few heartbeats to regain her breath. When Raven was ready to go again, she continued on at a trot. Finally, reached the edge of the treeline and found herself at the crest of a large hill. The wind was blowing across the slope, buffeting her fur. She blinked a few times to get her vision straightened, then stared down at the land.

For a few heartbeats, Raven couldn't see the lake. Then a small _pond_ caught her blue eyes. It was surrounded by dirty sand and what looked like logs.

_Is that the lake? _Raven wondered, taken aback. She had thought it was a lake. A great body of water, not this... pool.

Then, looking around, she realized that the entire landscape was just like the lake. The hillside she was looking over was covered in dead, wilting grass. Many fox-lengths, a long way away was a dried pathway that might have once been a stream, and across the stream, Raven could barely see a dead forest. Raven narrowed her eyes.

_Where is Lionstripe?_ Raven thought, scanning the land, until the pool caught her eye again. She realized that there were four small specks beside the pool, sitting in the sand. She narrowed her eyes to figure out what they were, then could made out the shapes of cats.

She muttered something, then headed down the slope.

After a long time of walking, Raven reached the lakeshore, and saw that one cat on the other was the small tom, Lionstripe, but the others were unfamiliar, with strange scents. There was a brown tabby she-cat who was plump and smelled of sharp, harsh stone, and the other two were gray, one tom and one she-cat. Both had a sappy, piney scent that was hard on Raven's nose.

"Lionstripe!" she called, her voice taking an edge. The puny warrior had been speaking to the gray tom with a low mew, then looked up.

"Ah, Raven!" Lionstripe exclaimed, purring. "I thought you would come."

"Who are they?" Raven growled. "Are these your Clan friends?"

The tom's whisker's twitched, and the three other cats stared at her with narrowed eyes. "No," he replied. "This is Strawberry," he flicked his tail at the gray she-cat. "This brown she-cat is Cinnamon. And this gray tom is Strawberry's brother, Stone."

Raven dipped her head. "Hello," she growled. "I thought I was the first cat to join you."

"You are," Lionstripe meowed. "And today I am going to assign you a warrior name. All of you."

Raven blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Warrior names?" she asked, shuffling her paws in the sand.

"Warrior names," Strawberry mewed before Lionstripe responded. "It's like a certain title. Like you have the first part of your name, usually something to do with your pelt, eyes, or something like that. Lionstripe is Lionstripe because his golden pelt is like a lion. You start out as 'kit, then an apprentice, a 'paw, then when you become a warrior, your 'paw name is changed to something else, like 'stripe, 'claw, 'blaze, 'tail, 'fur..."

Raven rolled her eyes sourly. "How did you know all that?" she growled. Strawberry shrugged. "My mother was friends with a Clan cat," she replied. "He explained everything to her, and Lionstripe just told us, anyway."

Lionstripe had been flicking his tail with impatience through the whole exchange. "If you're done," he meowed, his voice taking an edge. "We have to go find a place to camp. This dried up lake won't do."

All four of the other cats nodded.

_I wonder what a camp is, _Raven thought as the small golden tom began to make his way up the slope, towards the hillside Raven had come over. She didn't want to ask, because Lionstripe had probably told the others already.

Raven trotted alongside Cinnamon as they continued up the hill. The she-cat was radiating excitement and a little fear. Raven turned her head.

"Hello," she meowed softly. "Any idea where we're going?"

Cinnamon didn't stop moving as she replied. "Nope!" Raven sighed.

"Did he explain what a camp was?" Raven insisted, digging her claws into the ground as she moved.

"No, he said he'd do that once we found one," the former kittypet replied cheerfully.

Raven let out a frustrated growl. _Does Lionstripe even _know_ where we're going? _


End file.
